Savings Withdrawal Calculator

When you stop adding to your savings and start drawing them down — in retirement, during a career break, or while living off an inheritance — the central question becomes how long the money will hold out. The answer depends on three things: how much you've saved, how much you take out each month, and how much the remaining balance keeps earning.

The mechanics are a race between two forces. Each month your withdrawal shrinks the balance, while the return on what's left adds to it. If your withdrawal is smaller than the interest the balance earns, the pot actually keeps growing and your money lasts indefinitely — you're living purely off returns. If your withdrawal is larger, you're eating into principal, and the calculator works out exactly how many months pass before the balance hits zero. The bigger the gap between your withdrawal and your earnings, the faster the money runs out.

This is the same logic behind the 4% rule used in retirement planning: withdrawing about 4% of a balance per year has historically been sustainable over a 30-year retirement. Withdraw much more and you risk running out; withdraw less and your money may outlive you. A higher expected return extends the timeline, but it usually comes with more volatility, which introduces a real danger for retirees called sequence-of-returns risk — a market crash early in your drawdown can permanently shorten how long the money lasts, even if average returns later recover.

Two caveats matter. First, these figures are nominal: inflation steadily raises the amount you'll need to withdraw to maintain the same lifestyle, so a fixed monthly withdrawal buys less each year. For a more realistic plan, increase your withdrawal over time or assume a lower real return. Second, real returns aren't smooth — the calculator assumes a steady rate, while actual markets fluctuate. Use the result as a planning guide, build in a margin of safety, and revisit it as your balance and spending change.